It’s time for President Obama to quit watching sports and drinking beer with his political opponents in the hope it will lead to a bipartisan agreement, Rep. Maxine Waters said Thursday.

The outspoken California Democrat needs to fight harder against the GOP and Tea Party and for Democratic policy priorities, outspoken Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Thursday.

“He’s been very nice about it,” Waters said of Obama’s budget negotiations with Republicans.

“He’s been on the other side of the aisle talking with people. He’s invited them up to the White House to have beer.He’s invited them to come and watch the Super Bowl games.

“He’s done all of that, and when they eat his food and drink his beer and leave, then they go and try to kill him [on Capitol Hill],” she told an audience gathered for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference in Washington.

“You’ve gotta fight – you will not win this battle without fighting,” she added.

Obama already has taken a tougher partisan tone in speeches this month, and he proposed large tax hikes on the wealthy this week to cheers from liberals.

But Waters said she and other liberal Democrats still want to see the president do more and believe that by fighting the GOP he can be successful. She also suggested questions remain about whether Obama will keep fighting for liberal priorities when the going gets tough.

“We love the president. We want him to be successful,” Waters said. “But does he feel our pain? Does he understand what’s going on out here?”

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